Originally Posted by MoxieDoxie

Now I am aware that someone can write an article about therapy and write something I wrote about a session I posted here and then my T is reading about articles written on therapy and then recognizes that it is exactly what was said and done in one of our sessions and then gets suspicious.

The likelihood of that happening is very slim. I think one can easily become too worried about people we know searching for topics we write about.

I say that if you don't reveal any self-identifying information, that you're safe and should feel safe to freely post about your issues without the worry that others will see it and be able to identify you.

[MoxieDoxie]

Currently Active Users: 1138 (82 members and 1056 guests)

I wonder out of those 1056 guest would become members if they could not view these forums withouy membership?

[DocJohn]

Posted to the other thread [which I've now closed, so we discuss this same topic in just one place]:

Folks, the Internet is a big place and people make mistakes about copying content that they're not allowed to copy. We have to educate even our own writers about images and copyright. It's natural to feel outrage and upset, and the first time it happened to me, that's exactly what I felt too. (Now I just get exasperated because of how often it happens.) [I'll also add here, that while some people make honest mistakes, others are doing it specifically because they are making money off of the content in some other way.]

What the DMCA allows for is to contact the author or publisher of an article and have them remove the offending content. The "offending content" in this case were the exact quotes of people's posts. He's done that, so that's the end of the story.

Anybody can and is free to write articles based upon things they've read elsewhere, whether it be a book, a forum post, or another blog posting. I've written dozens of such blog posts that were based on my reaction or response to something else I've read online. It's a large part of what blogging can be about for some people.

Once an author has removed the offending material, the matter is settled as far as we're concerned. While you're welcomed to do as you please with regard to reviews and such, I find that it's easy to cross the line into wanting to "teach a person a lesson." I usually don't find such behaviors gain the kind of response you were hoping for.

We have always and will continue to send DMCA take down notices when we come across this sort of behavior. This is all done (usually) behind the scenes, and we've sent out dozens over the years. We will continue to enforce the intellectual property rights of our members, as it's a part of the free service we offer to our members.

Just a reminder, too -- you don't have to be a member to read posts here (except for protected forums, like the Premier Poohbah forum, which is a membership benefit to those who reach certain community milestones or donate to our non-profit organization). Anyone can read anything they want. However, member profiles are restricted to only be accessible to logged-in members.

DocJohn

I signed up for the protected forum mentioned above to talk about my therapy in a more private place, but the forum is hardly used so it didn't work out for me.

Are there other protections? Going back and deleting your posts that you realize could compromise your identity?

This thread is a good reminder to be careful about what you post.

[lizardlady]

Doc John, what is DMCA?

[seesaw]

Originally Posted by Rayne_

I signed up for the protected forum mentioned above to talk about my therapy in a more private place, but the forum is hardly used so it didn't work out for me.

Are there other protections? Going back and deleting your posts that you realize could compromise your identity?

This thread is a good reminder to be careful about what you post.

I don't know about deleting posts, but I requested once for all my photos in my albums to be removed because I didn't want them searchable by inage, and admin was happy to help. I think admin here are happy to assist in correcting privacy errors. That's been my experience.

[growlycat]

I’m glad that docjon weighed in on the other thread . What still bothers me is that one lady very politely asked the blog author to modify the post but he publicly responded to her that said essentially that her quote was fair game. Maybe the topic was fair game but fair use laws do not cover usage of the quote without permission. He did not appear to change it until docjon stepped in. Other people here have said this blogger quoted them as well. The responses people got from him amounted to “sorry not sorry”.

My secondary complaint is that he is writing about and giving giving terrible and incorrect info about therapy while having zero training in therapy. He has an mba according to LinkedIn and some religious training but zero zilch degrees in counseling. He still has an article up that one of our members was hurt by because it seemed to be judging one of our members seeking support here, not over there.

I believe armen is a shady character who knew what he is doing and damn well i am going to watch his posts and catch any additional awful behavior. He deserves to called out. Maybe it is over for docjon but not for the distressed person over on the “romantic feelings for my therapist” thread. That person is upset and stopped posting here.

Hell yeah im still angry. I feel like docjon is minimizing this issue just a touch

[DocJohn]

"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly known as digital rights management or DRM). "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digita..._Copyright_Act

[DocJohn]

Sorry if you felt I minimized the situation. As I said, it can be traumatic the first time it happens to a person. I'm sorry they had it happen to them.

I have to be realistic, though, and acknowledge we can't stop this from happening. We can't stop people from giving bad advice online. I have to focus on what we *can* do within the community and help people understand how common an occurrence this is, across many, many sites and communities online today.

[lizardlady]

Thanks Doc John.

[growlycat]

I’m grateful for the site Docjon and the work you do here. When people come in and exploit or hurt our community I tend to get up-in-arms, only because I care about people here.

[DocJohn]

As do we, that's why we do work behind the scenes all the time to stop this sort of thing happening... We don't like it any more than having any member to have to experience the pain it is to see one's words used elsewhere without their permission.

[Open Eyes]

I don't see how this can be avoided or actually stopped, the truth is human beings will and have always used things they read and hear to formulate their own personal way of using information that can benefit their POV. This includes "twisting" conversations and interactions in ways that can give their own POV more power as well.

Personally, when I share my thoughts and opinions about things my intent has always been that perhaps my effort might be helpful to someone that is struggling like I have where what I have learned can somehow benefit someone else to ease their suffering.

While someone may take something I have said and twist it in a way that doesn't reflect what I meant than so be it, because there can also be times when someone might take what I say and add to it in a way that can actually provide significant benefits to others that can produce "healing" and gaining in a positive way which is all I really want from whatever way I try to share thoughts that might be fruitful.

[HowDoYouFeelMeow?]

Originally Posted by MoxieDoxie

No you can also donate and that will get you in there also.

I did donate once, to seesaw, and didn't get added. :-(

[MoxieDoxie]

Originally Posted by Rayne_

I signed up for the protected forum mentioned above to talk about my therapy in a more private place, but the forum is hardly used so it didn't work out for me.

Are there other protections? Going back and deleting your posts that you realize could compromise your identity?

This thread is a good reminder to be careful about what you post.

Hey Rayne lets start a Psychotherapy thread in the Poobah section.

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

I don't see how this can be avoided or actually stopped, the truth is human beings will and have always used things they read and hear to formulate their own personal way of using information that can benefit their POV. This includes "twisting" conversations and interactions in ways that can give their own POV more power as well.

Personally, when I share my thoughts and opinions about things my intent has always been that perhaps my effort might be helpful to someone that is struggling like I have where what I have learned can somehow benefit someone else to ease their suffering.

While someone may take something I have said and twist it in a way that doesn't reflect what I meant than so be it, because there can also be times when someone might take what I say and add to it in a way that can actually provide significant benefits to others that can produce "healing" and gaining in a positive way which is all I really want from whatever way I try to share thoughts that might be fruitful.

Passivity and powerlessness is not something I ascribe to.

These things happen and we can do nothing. Or we can legally and nonviolenty take action to fight back. Even voicing an opinion is better than nothing.

A lot of people here have histories of feeling powerless, maybe even learned helplessness. I am always happy to see people overcome this and start by standing up for themselves.

Some people who were violated by this blogger didn’t even want to go through the trouble of asking him politely to not quote them. That makes me terribly sad for them.

[MoxieDoxie]

Originally Posted by growlycat

Passivity and powerlessness is not something I ascribe to.

These things happen and we can do nothing. Or we can legally and nonviolenty take action to fight back. Even voicing an opinion is better than nothing.

A lot of people here have histories of feeling powerless, maybe even learned helplessness. I am always happy to see people overcome this and start by standing up for themselves.

Some people who were violated by this poster didn’t even want to go through the trouble of asking him politely to not quote them. That makes me terribly sad for them.

Exactly Growlycat. Thank you for saying that. I learned passivity all my life especially next to men. That carried over into everything else. Just accept what is happening, don't complain and suck it up. Plus I could not handle the stress of the fight to defend myself against whatever.

[RubyRae]

I guess none of this really upsets me because it IS the internet.Anything we put out there stays out there and people can do what they want with it,whether legally or illegally.

It happens everywhere.Especially Facebook,anyone can right click on your photos and save them and do whatever they choose with them,unless your profile is private.I would be more concerned about that rather than a forum like this where we are all anonymous.

I would get upset if I saw a post of mine copied word for word elsewhere too,of course I would,but I would sure be careful what I do put out there from now on.I once was a member of an abuse survivor forum and I have seen my story elsewhere,not word for word,but the same story nonetheless.It was upsetting but made me realize to be careful what I share online.

[Open Eyes]

What I posted was not suggesting one be passive or not call out someone you catch using what you shared for their own agenda. My point is that I don't see how what you have shared of how someone used what you wrote and feel is yours and yours alone can be enforced where you can prevent that from happening. It can be unsettling as at one point I did a search about something and ended up seeing a thread from this site with MY own input included come up. I found that very triggering in that I had no idea a thread from this site could end up coming up in a search on the net like that.

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

What I posted was not suggesting one be passive or not call out someone you catch using what you shared for their own agenda. My point is that I don't see how what you have shared of how someone used what you wrote and feel is yours and yours alone can be enforced where you can prevent that from happening. It can be unsettling as at one point I did a search about something and ended up seeing a thread from this site with MY own input included come up. I found that very triggering in that I had no idea a thread from this site could end up coming up in a search on the net like that.

I’m sorry for misunderstanding what you meant. It came across a different way to me.

[seesaw]

Originally Posted by HowDoYouFeelMeow?

I did donate once, to seesaw, and didn't get added. :-(

Aw! Thank you so much, Meow! I'm doing much better now, FYI. Y'all's support made a huge difference for me. Kept me from losing my place and now I'm working again and doing quite well. That was a very dark chapter and I am so thankful for this community's support.

Seesaw

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by RubyRae

I guess none of this really upsets me because it IS the internet.Anything we put out there stays out there and people can do what they want with it,whether legally or illegally.

It happens everywhere.Especially Facebook,anyone can right click on your photos and save them and do whatever they choose with them,unless your profile is private.I would be more concerned about that rather than a forum like this where we are all anonymous.

I would get upset if I saw a post of mine copied word for word elsewhere too,of course I would,but I would sure be careful what I do put out there from now on.I once was a member of an abuse survivor forum and I have seen my story elsewhere,not word for word,but the same story nonetheless.It was upsetting but made me realize to be careful what I share online.

Some of the different viewpoints on this may be generational. I tend to think the younger you are the more accepting you are of a lack of privacy, less concerned with intellectual property ownership etc. We may be silently and unwittingly giving these things away. Just a cautionary tale from this old lady

[RubyRae]

Originally Posted by growlycat

Some of the different viewpoints on this may be generational. I tend to think the younger you are the more accepting you are of a lack of privacy, less concerned with intellectual property ownership etc. We may be silently and unwittingly giving these things away. Just a cautionary tale from this old lady

But I'm an old lady too,it's just that I think/feel differently than you.

My thinking is there's really not much we can do to change or stop these types of things from happening.So it's best that we protect ourselves by carefully chosing what we put online.

It's not that I am accepting of lack of privacy,it's more that I accept this is the world we live in now.Nothing is private anymore.

[tecomsin]

There's a lot of things I don't write about specifically because it would be identifying information. I do agree that posting anonymously is much safer for privacy than facebook. All I can say is that at least I didn't go manic on facebook.

My biggest concern regarding privacy is not the random person who is hyperfocused on this forum and may even go on to post more articles based on the posts here.

BTW I am curious how the plagiarism was originally detected.

I think more about the scenario where someone who knows or knew me might be looking online to see if they could find me posting on forums. I mean if they knew I had bipolar. They might have an unhealthy obsession.

Anyway it's not a good idea to use to precise a location or a name you have used elsewhere or certainly any identifying photos, even of pets or whatnot that could be matched in a google image search.

It is a lot safer than facebook for privacy but on the other hand people write about very personal things here too.

I also wanted to thank Doc John and everyone who works to support this site.

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by RubyRae

But I'm an old lady too,it's just that I think/feel differently than you.

My thinking is there's really not much we can do to change or stop these types of things from happening.So it's best that we protect ourselves by carefully chosing what we put online.

It's not that I am accepting of lack of privacy,it's more that I accept this is the world we live in now.Nothing is private anymore.

The two ideas are not mutually exclusive, right? One can be careful about posts and privacy settings AND fight content theft.